Las Vegas
Transit Traveling into Las Vegas via the airport *The most common way to get here is through McCarran Airport. From there you can either take the taxi (recommended), city buses (not recommended) or a shuttle (strongly recommended). *If you choose to take a taxi you'll most likely have to wait in line. Be aware of "long hauling" - NEVER TAKE THE TUNNEL. Taxi drivers are very good at fucking tourists over and your $20 dollar cab ride can easily become a $50 one if you're not careful. Always tell your cabbie to take you to your destination via Swenson Street. A taxi from airport to hotels on the central strip will cost around $20. *The city bus to your hotel will save you about $3 whole dollars off a shuttle, it's reliable but can be confusing to someone not already familiar with Las Vegas' public transit *Shuttle buses are the best way to get to your casino, you can purchase tickets at the airport, they may actually save you some time depending on the wait for taxis and go to any casino you wish to go to https://www.mccarran.com/Go/Shuttles.aspx Traveling into Las Vegas via car *Central and Southern California will enter via the I-15 North, it's pretty straightforward getting to the hotels. Reno and most places in Oregon enter via the 95 you'll want to merge onto I-15 South to get to the hotels. Traveling from Washington and everywhere Northeast of Las Vegas will come into the I-15 South, agian it's pretty straightforward. Places southeast of Las Vegas will enter via the 515, you'll want to merge onto the 215 West and then the I-15 North, get into the right lane at the Airport/Sunset off ramp, after the airport exit traffic gets denser and drivers in Nevada hate letting people change lanes in front of them. *It's best to take Frank Sinatra Drive rather than Las Vegas Blvd. due to the immense amount of traffic the Blvd. has and if you're staying at Caesars or the Luxor/Excalibur you can access their parking garages from Frank Sinatra Drive. (Parking is free at all Strip casinos regardless of whether or not you're staying there) Traveling around Las Vegas via public transit *Taxis are the most commonly used form of public transportation for visitors, to actually travel around Las Vegas the city buses are substantially cheaper and due to Las Vegas's grid setup it is extremely easy to navigate, just don't expect the buses to get you to your destination very fast. A 24 hour bus pass is 5 dollars and can be used on any city bus. If you know the address, and whether it's North/South and East/West of your current location you can get there with relative ease. Avoid taking a bus to any of the casinos in the Eastern part of Henderson (past the 515) if you're not entirely sure how to get back since the buses there don't have the same Up/Down Left/Right track the rest of the buses do. A lot of popular destinations have their own shuttles to and from the strip (The Hustler Club, The Gun Store) check with them beforehand to see if such a service is offered. Traveling around Las Vegas via car *Similar to taking the bus, you can just take surface streets to your destination if you know if it's north/south and east/west of your destination, the highways are great in Las Vegas at all times except 5-7PM Monday-Friday, it would be advisable to just stay put during that period, or take surface streets. As mentioned above, do as little driving on Las Vegas Blvd. by the casinos as possible due to the heavy traffic and suicidal pedestrians 'The Strip' 'Where to stay on 'The Strip *Imperial Palace is the best place to stay for the thrifty tourist. It's in a central location and is one of the cheapest casinos on the Strip. The rooms however are slightly below average though still quite nice *Citi Center hotels (Aria, Mandarin and Vdara) are ideal for a tourist wanting a more luxurious experience. It's all your typical 5 star fare with a central location. The Vdara is non-smoking as well as non-gaming, the non-gaming part isn't much of a concern since there's a casino right next door in The Aria. The Aria is the same sort of hotel as The Vdara, but has smoking and a casino. The Mandarin is, like The Vdara, a non-gaming hotel. According to Forbes it's the best hotel in Las Vegas (5 stars in Hotel/Restaurant/Spa) though it's on the pricier side as one might expect *The Wynn casinos as well as Trump International are good choices if location doesn't matter to you, they're both cheap cab rides away from the central strip, but are better than most hotel/casinos on The Strip (and cheaper (substantially in Trump's case) than most comparable hotels on the strip). As a side note, they are not geographically distant from the central strip, but when wasted the 1.5 mile walk from The Bellagio to The Wynn will require quite a bit of effort. *The Venetian and Palazoo both offer a good mix of luxury, location and price and are entirely comprised of suites (of varying quality) *The Bellagio has a very strong haughty vibe, it has good rooms at great prices, it's a place to avoid unless you're quite well-to-do. *Parris-Parris, New York-New York, Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood, The Mirage and The Elara are all essentially interchangeable, offering the same thing but with different dining and varying degrees of price. All of them are in good enough locations that you can walk to whatever suits your fancy. *Places like The Flaming, Bally's, Harrah's and the aformentioned Imperial Palace are sort of like second-tier hotels to the ones listed directly above. They're often cheaper but never as nice, though Imperial Palace is easily the best deal on The Strip *Avoid places like The Stratosphere, Hooters and Circus Circus. They're not even worth their low price, are in bad locations and are just in general, not very pleasant. If you don't mind living next to crackheads there are apartments right across from The Stratosphere that are $35 a week and offer free tetanus! **I stayed at the Flamingo. An average suite had no microwave, no kettle, limited cable TV. The food plaza was expensive as hell (26 dollars a pizza). Getting a Flamingo casino membership gave me $10 credit. My parents' room was on level five next to some loud-ass fan exhaust which kept them up all night. the curtains were a very light colour and didn't shield the really, *really* bright lights (which as you all probably know, are on 24/7) Bluesummersx19a 11:06, July 3, 2012 (UTC) **The Circus Circus buffet apparently has a good chance of making you throw up 'Misc' *Bottled water in shops on The Strip usually sell for around $1 per liter. Buying them in convenience stores inside hotels will be more expensive. *If you want to buy a several bottles of liquor (for whatever reason) you can avoid the high markup at on-strip liquor stores by taking a taxi to the Vons on Tropicana. You can also save a bit on any groceries you would like to purchase there. **Also, you could always buy booze at some liquor store/Mexican shop in North Las Vegas. 'Outside of The Strip''' Phat Phranks is a worthwhile Mexican resturant on Decatur and Sunset. It is five miles away from the Las Vegas Strip. Best to go there for Breakfast or Lunch. Lotus of Siam is a Thai restraunt located outside the strip at